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Guerrillas of Destiny
The Guerrillas of Destiny, sometimes shortened to G.O.D., is a Tongan-American professional wrestling tag team of real-life brothers Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa. The two originally began wrestling together in 2008 under the team name Sons of Tonga, a reference to their father, professional wrestler Tonga Fifita. After a seven-year break, the team reunited in March 2016, when Loa joined Tonga in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). As members of the Bullet Club stable, they are the current record breaking six-time IWGP Tag Team Champions, while also being a former four-times NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions. Throughout NJPW's working relationship with American partner Ring of Honor (ROH), where they are a former one-time ROH World Tag Team Champions. History Training and early career (2008–2009) Alipate Fifita and Tevita Fifita are sons of professional wrestler Tonga Fifita, better known by the ring names Haku, Meng and King Tonga. The two brothers decided to pursue their own careers in professional wrestling when Alipate was stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base with the United States Air Force, while Tevita was attending University of Texas at El Paso. The brothers started training under their father and Ricky Santana in a ring owned by the Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley) at their Team 3D Academy of Professional Wrestling and Sports Entertainment training school in Kissimmee, Florida. Eventually, the brothers signed up with the Team 3D Academy, where they would continue their training for a year under the Dudley Boyz. In 2008, Alipate and Tevita began wrestling under the names Kava and Nuku, respectively, and the team name "Sons of Tonga". In 2009, the brothers took part in a WWE tryout camp, which resulted in Tevita being signed to a contract. Tevita eventually made it to WWE television under the ring name "Camacho", while Alipate traveled first to Puerto Rico and then to Japan, joining New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) in May 2010, where he became a founding member of the Bullet Club stable in 2013 as "Tama Tonga". New Japan Pro Wrestling (2016–present) On February 14, 2016, at NJPW's The New Beginning in Niigata event, Bullet Club's Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson unsuccessfully challenged G.B.H. (Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma) for the IWGP Tag Team Championship. Following the match, Gallows and Anderson's stablemate Tama Tonga, entered the ring to challenge Makabe and Honma, stating that his partner would be a new Bullet Club member. The challenge was accepted by Makabe and Honma. On March 12, Tonga revealed that his partner would be his brother Tevita, who was given the ring name "Tanga Roa" with their tag team dubbed "Guerrillas of Destiny" (G.O.D.). The brothers together came up with their team name, which references their feeling of "fighting for a cause" and the belief that destiny had brought them back together. The team's acronym stemmed from Alipate's ring name meaning "God of War" and Tevita's ring name meaning "Family of God" in the Polynesian Islands. Roa made his NJPW debut on March 27, attacking Togi Makabe during his match with Tonga. This led to his first match with the promotion on April 1, where the Bullet Club quintet of Roa, Tonga, Bad Luck Fale, Kenny Omega and Yujiro Takahashi were defeated by Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Juice Robinson, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Michael Elgin in a ten-man elimination tag team match. On April 10 at Invasion Attack 2016, G.O.D. defeated G.B.H. to become the new IWGP Tag Team Champions. They made their first successful title defense on May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2016, defeating G.B.H. in a rematch. Later that month, G.O.D. took part in a North American tour, co-promoted by NJPW and the American Ring of Honor (ROH) promotion. During the War of the Worlds event on May 14, ROH wrestler Jay Briscoe pinned Roa to win an eight-man tag team match between Team ROH and Bullet Club and afterwards announced that he and his brother Mark were coming to NJPW to take the IWGP Tag Team Championship from Roa and Tonga. On June 8, NJPW officially announced that the win had earned the Briscoe Brothers a shot at the IWGP Tag Team Championship. The title match took place on June 19 at Dominion 6.19 in Osaka-jo Hall and saw the Briscoe Brothers end G.O.D.'s title reign and become the new champions. On September 22 at Destruction in Hiroshima, after the Briscoe Brothers had successfully defended the IWGP Tag Team Championship against Bullet Club's The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson), they were attacked by G.O.D., who demanded a title rematch. This led to a match on October 10 at King of Pro-Wrestling, where G.O.D. defeated the Briscoe Brothers to regain the IWGP Tag Team Championship. Following the match, G.O.D. and The Young Bucks attacked the Briscoe Brothers as well as Tomohiro Ishii, who tried to save the former champions. This led directly to G.O.D.'s first title defense on November 5 at Power Struggle, where they defeated Ishii and Yoshi-Hashi. From November 18 to December 10, G.O.D. took part in the 2016 World Tag League. After winning their block with a record of six wins and one loss, G.O.D. advanced to the finals of the tournament, where they were defeated by G.B.H., setting up another title match between the two teams. However, before the match could take place at Wrestle Kingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome, G.O.D.'s title belts were stolen by Toru Yano, which resulted in him and Tomohiro Ishii being added to the match. On January 4, 2017, at Wrestle Kingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome, G.O.D. lost the IWGP Tag Team Championship to Yano and Ishii in the three-way match. On June 11 at Dominion 6.11 in Osaka-jo Hall, G.O.D. defeated War Machine (Hanson and Raymond Rowe) to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship for the third time. They lost the title back to War Machine in a no disqualification match on July 1 at G1 Special in USA. In September, Guerrillas of Destiny, War Machine and the Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Lance Archer) were booked in three three-way matches for the IWGP Tag Team Championship. The first match on September 10 at Destruction in Fukushima was won by War Machine. The second match six days later at Destruction in Hiroshima was also won by the defending champions. The third match, contested under tornado tag team match rules, on September 24 at Destruction in Kobe was won by the Killer Elite Squad. In December, Tonga and Roa won their block in the 2017 World Tag League with a record of five wins and two losses, advancing to the finals of the tournament. On December 11, they were defeated in the finals of the tournament by Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL and SANADA). Six days later, Guerrillas of Destiny and Bad Luck Fale defeated EVIL, SANADA and BUSHI to become the new NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions. They lost the title to CHAOS (Beretta, Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano) in a five-team gauntlet match on January 4, 2018, at Wrestle Kingdom 12 in Tokyo Dome, only to regain it the following day. On May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku, Guerrillas of Destiny and Fale lost the titles to their Bullet Club stablemates Marty Scurll and The Young Bucks. On July 7 at G1 Special in San Francisco, following a title defense between Omega and Cody, Guerrillas of Destiny and their father Haku dubbed as "Firing Squad" attacked Omega and The Young Bucks. Hangman Page, Marty Scurll, Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi, come out to make the save but were unable to help. Tonga offered Cody to attack Omega, but he ended up trying to save them, only to the Firing Squad to attack Cody. Following the G1 Special in San Francisco, Firing Squad's side would be referred as "Bullet Club OG", meaning "Bullet Club Original". Later that month, Tonga took part in the 2018 G1 Climax, finishing the tournament with a record of three wins and six losses, due to most of the matches ending in a disqualification due to excessive outside interference of Loa and Bad Luck Fale (who joined the Bullet Club OG), which led to them ejected from the arena by NJPW President Harold Meij on August 11, who had previously threatened to suspend them for three months and a fine. On August 12, the Guerrillas of Destiny and the newest member of Bullet Club OG Taiji Ishimori defeated Marty Scurll and The Young Bucks to win the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship. After the match, the Guerrillas of Destiny attacked The Young Bucks and threw their IWGP Tag Team Championship and the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship. This led to on September 30 at Fighting Spirit Unleashed, Guerrillas of Destiny defeated The Young Bucks to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship for the fourth time. From November 17 until December 7, Tonga and Roa took part in the 2018 World Tag League finishing the tournament with a record of ten wins and three losses, advancing to the finals of the tournament. On December 9, they were defeated in the finals of the tournament by Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL and SANADA) in the second consecutive year. On January 4, 2019 at Wrestle Kingdom 13 in Tokyo Dome, the Guerrillas of Destiny lost the IWGP Tag Team Championship to EVIL and SANADA in a three-way match also involving The Young Bucks. They lost the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship to Ryusuke Taguchi, Togi Makabe and Toru Yano on January 30. On February 23, at Honor Rising: Japan, the Guerrillas of Destiny defeated EVIL and SANADA to win the IWGP Tag Team Champions for their fifth time. On April 6 at G1 Supercard, the Guerrillas of Destiny defeated EVIL and SANADA, Villain Enterprises (PCO and Brody King) and The Briscoe Brothers (Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe) in a "Winner takes all match" to retain the IWGP Tag Team and win the ROH World Tag Team Championships. From November 16 until December 8, the Guerrillas of Destiny took part in the 2019 World Tag League. The Guerrillas of Destiny entered the final day with a chance to win the tournament, but a loss against Tomohiro Ishii and Yoshi-Hashi cost them the chance to win the tournament. On January 4, 2020 in the first night of Wrestle Kingdom 14 in Tokyo Dome, the Guerrillas of Destiny lost the IWGP Tag Team Championship to David Finlay and Juice Robinson. They regained the titles from Finlay and Robinson on February 1 at The New Beginning in USA. With the win, the Guerrillas of Destiny became the first ever team to hold the title six times. Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (2016) On June 1, 2016, the Mexican Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) promotion announced Tonga and Roa as participants in the 2016 International Gran Prix. On June 24, Tonga, Roa and Sam Adonis defeated Atlantis, Diamante Azul and Volador Jr. in Arena México. On July 1, Roa and Tonga took part in the 2016 International Gran Prix, from which Roa was eliminated by Último Guerrero and Tonga lasted all the way to the finals before losing to Volador Jr. Personal lives Tonga (Alipate) and Loa (Tevita) are sons of Tonga was the professional wrestler better known as Meng or Haku. Alipate's younger (biological) brother Taula who is also a professional wrestler under the name Leo Tonga and wrestle with them in New Japan Pro-Wrestling as part of the Bullet Club stable alongside their cousin Fale Simitaitoko. In addition, Alipate and Tevita live together in Orlando, Florida, commuting to Japan for tours of between a couple of weeks to three months. In wrestling *'Double-team finishing moves' **'Roa and Tonga' ***''Guerrilla Warfare'' (Aided double arm DDT) ***''Nightfall'' (Belly-to-back suplex (Loa) / Neckbreaker (Tonga) combination) ***''Killshot (Flapjack (Loa)/Jumping Cutter (Tonga) Combination) ***''Super Powerbomb ''(Double Powerbomb to a cornered opponent) *'Double-team signature moves''' **Aided Tongan Twist **Powerbomb (Roa) / Neckbreaker (Tonga) combination **Powerbomb (Roa) / Reverse DDT (Tonga) combination *'Tonga's finishing moves' **''Dream Catcher'' (Twister) – 2017–present **''Gun Stun'' (Jumping cutter, sometimes from the top rope) – 2016-present; adopted from Karl Anderson **''Headshrinker'' / Veleno (Jumping double underhook DDT) **''Tongan Twist'' (Inverted facelock spun out into a DDT) *'Roa's finishing moves' **''Apeshit'' (Over the shoulder reverse piledriver) **Running Samoan drop *'Entrance themes' **'"Shot'Em"' by QBrick (used while a part of Bullet Club) **" of Destiny" by Yonosuke Kitamura **'"G.O.D (Firing Squad)"' by No Name Tim and Kashis Keyz Championships and Accomplishments * New Japan Pro Wrestling **IWGP Tag Team Championship (6 times, current) **NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Bad Luck Fale (2) and Taiji Ishimori (1) *''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' **Ranked Tonga No. 132 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2017 **Ranked Loa No. 140 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2017 *'Ring of Honor' **ROH World Tag Team Championship (1 time) *'WrestleCircus' **Big Top Tag-Team Championship (1 time) Notes * The name has been written as both "Tanga Roa" and "Tanga Loa". NJPW uses the spelling Roa, while ROH has used both Loa and Roa. References *http://www.cagematch.net/?id=28&nr=1956 External links *Bullet Club at Shop.NJPW.co.jp *Cagematch Profile }} Category:NJPW teams and stables